Life's Complicatios

A glimpse to the past

Percy POV

After practically chasing the Nico and Grover out of the house, closing and locking the door in their face, I sighed heavily, tired from the day's disastrous events. I staggered towards the couch and slumped down onto it, totally drained. Can't I get through a day of relaxing and having fun without having any totally crazy and unnatural events happening?

After staying there for about five minutes, I took a deep breath and stood up, and nearly fell back. I was really tired...mentally of course. It's hard to NOT be after you have just seen, and attended to, the girl whom you consider a sister. Even though Thalia may not seem like one, she is kind of fragile. On the outside, probably not, but I have seen her in her weakest moments, and thus I know how much support she needs to stay strong. Even Nico and Grover don't know her as much I as I do.

I shook my head and took a deep breath again, and stood up, and this time I didn't fall back. I then walked at a slow pace towards Jason's room. I realized that I had not seen him since I took Thalia into the room, and Nico and Grover had not told me about his condition...I didn't give them a chance to...

I opened the door to his room, and saw him lying on the bed in the middle of the room, knocked out. I noticed that he wasn't sweaty, and that he was wearing different clothes from when he barged into the house. Nico and Grover must have dried him and changed him into clean clothes. I walked to his bedside and checked him over. He seemed okay, just a few cuts and bruises, and nothing that was as bad as Thalia's. I sighed in relief. If anything severe had happened to him, Thalia would be distraught.

After tidying up the room, taking out Jason's sweaty and stinky clothes that were strewn all over the floor- mental note: whack them later – of the room and throwing it inside the washing machine for wash and closing the door, I went to see Thalia.

I opened her room's door quietly and walked to her side. Her room was pitch black other than the light coming from the living room...well, it was night time, and I had shut all the curtains in her room tight and turned off the lights in her room...

After closing the door behind her, turned on the lights, but dimmed them a lot. I then pulled the chair that was at her desk and sat on it beside her bed. Her breathing was now steady, and none of her wounds had been infected severely, but her face was still pale due to the loss of blood. It may take her a few days to recover consciousness, and even more days to be up and as healthy as before again.

I stared at her face, so pale, yet so peaceful. My heart ached for her. Why, of all the people in the World, was it her that had to suffer all these things? She didn't deserve the to be raised by an abusive mother, she didn't deserve to separated from her brother for so many years, she didn't deserve to have so less friends, she didn't deserve to be beaten up by almost every guy that does their thing with her mother...and she didn't deserve to go through the beatings...didn't deserve to go through what I went through...

I took her hand and squeezed it brotherly, affectionately, and muttered quietly

"Hey, little sis, wake up soon okay? You scared us so much...I told you not to go...why didn't you listen...If only I had...." I muttered on and on and on. It was my fault. I should have stopped her. I shouldn't have let her go alone. I should have been there.

Without noticing, I drifted off to sleep, my head resting beside Thaia's arm on her bed, still thinking about her...and went into the land of dreams.

"Daddy! Mommy! Please, please answer me! Why aren't you answering? DADDY! MOMMY!" a voice screamed.

"Who..who are you people? Why are you taking me? Where's Daddy? Mommy? You aren't them...wait, no stop. Why are you taking me? You're not them. Stop!" A boy's voice shouted

"AHHH" Screams echoed through the fog of darkness in my dream "Please stop! I didn't do anything! Why are you hitting me? Wait, please, stop! PLEASE!"

"No, no I beg you, stop...I'll give you anything you want...just stop this...don't...don't do this..." the voice pleaded and begged in a small, quiet tone while sobbing

"No, No, NO! PLEASE! IT HURTS! S-STOP! PLEASE STOP! AHH! NO NO AHHHHH!"

"AHH!" I screamed as my head shot up from the bed. My heart was thumping extremely quickly, my throat was dry, my eyes were pouring out tears and I was panting and gasping for air. I quickly stood up and staggered towards Thalia's room's toilet, and slammed my hands down on both sides of the basin, supporting my weak legs, as I tried to regain the ability to think straight.

The dream...it was the dream again...I thought I had already gotten over that a long time ago... why now, after seven long years? Could it be because I saw myself in Thalia?

I shook my head wildly and turned on the tap to the fullest, and began to splash my face with the cold, refreshing water. I will not think about it...it's all in the past...

I looked at my reflection on the mirror above the basin, those wild eyes, that haggard face, the utterly hopeless hair... it all reminded me of how I was at that time so many years ago...those sadistic bastards who...

No, I'm older now, I'm stronger than that time, and I will not allow this to break the promise I made. I steeled myself, and pushed down the whirling emotions in me, and made my face look normal again. I will not allow that to break me especially. I looked back at Thalia, and my eyes immediately softened. She may have thought that she was the only one who had experienced all the beatings...she's not the only one, and I won't tell her. The promise...the promise...

I walked slowly and stiffly towards the chair, and slumped in it. I really was totally drained then. I even felt that I had just ran a hundred kilometers, which was seriously weird, but I didn't really notice that.

I hesitated as I began to fall back to sleep. What if I dreamt about...that...again?

"Damn it Perceus Jackson. You're stronger than this...don't let mere dreams of the past overcome you.." I said to myself angrily. I decided to ignore the threat of those dreams reappearing. I won't let them beat me. Never. ...The dreams, what they represent, are the ones I will overcome, and I won't be able to do that if even the dreams of them could beat me.

With that mindset, I let myself drift off to sleep, once again with head rested beside Thalia's arm and my hand holding hers again... for my own comfort and reassurance.

This time, no dreams came, and I slept peacefully.